1051 The Arrow Pointed At The World (1/2)
The Butcher said nothing. He recalled that many years ago the Abbey Dean had sent the Drunkard to the West Wilderness to meet the Chief Monk of Scripture. He was already trying to weaken her back then.
”He is indeed the first in Taoism throughout a thousand years,” the Butcher stood up, wiped off the water on his clothes and said.
The Drunkard looked at him and asked, ”What should we do now?” Or rather, how should we choose?
The Butcher said, ”Don't forget there are two Haotian now.”
If she had not returned to the Divine Kingdom and was still in the human world, there should be one Haotian in Heaven and the other in the human world. No one knew which one was the real her.
”If the Abbey Dean is executing the order of Haotian above in Heaven, then he has a great chance to win. But I don't know if the Haotian in Heaven would fulfill the promise the other Haotian in the human world gave us. Therefore we cannot let the one in the human world die.”
The Drunkard and the Butcher had lived such long lives that they were extremely afraid of death.
When Haotian's light shone on the human world, they hid like mice. Ever since the Headmaster had found them, they had kept quiet and behaved themselves. They even continued to behave themselves when the Headmaster left for Heaven and the Abbey Dean returned. They never had the guts to rebel.
But they still had desires. The desires were assemblies of countless instinctive desires of human beings. It was so intense and strong that they wanted to seek for eternity.
Yet eternity belonged to the Divine Kingdom rather than the human world. They had Sangsang's promise, or bestowal. Therefore they found peace and joy and no longer had to cling to the life they had for tens of thousands of years, until they figured out that there might be two Haotian.
There was such a problem in the past. When Sangsang was traveling through the human world with Ning Que, or even earlier on when she lived with Ning Que in the city of Wei, technically there had always been two Haotian. The difference was one of them was not awaken at that time. Since she had awakened, she was already no different from her counterpart in the Divine Kingdom.
But according to what the Abbey Dean had been doing lately, it showed that it was highly possible that the one failed to return to the Divine Kingdom and the one stayed in the Divine Kingdom, had probably set off on two different paths.
Therefore was the agreement between them and Sangsang still effective? What was the Haotian in the Divine Kingdom thinking about? Who should they follow?
The Butcher looked at the Drunkard solemnly and said, ”Fortunately there are the two of us as well. If there are indeed two Haotian, then … we can take one each.”
The Drunkard stood up and agreed, ”It seems to be our only choice now. Even if we made a wrong pick we would just lose half of the game. We still have a chance in the end.”
The Butcher asked, ”Are you going as well?”
The Drunkard answered, ”Of course.”
The Butcher said, ”If she did fail to return to the Divine Kingdom and stay in the human world, you have to find her before the Abbey Dean and Li Manman…”
The Drunkard asked, ”And you?”
The Butcher returned to his chopping board and threw the pig feet into the huge pot. He stared at the pig feet going up and down in the marinated water and said, ”I'm going to Peach Mountain. If Taoism is carrying out the order of the Haotian in the Divine Kingdom, they will definitely need my help”
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Apart from the calligraphy store, the butcher's shop and the liquor store, there was also a gambling house in the town. There were not many residents in the town, and very few of them were well off. Therefore there were barely any addicted gamblers and the business of the gambling house was always slow. But there were still a number of men who came to the place frequently.
Zhang San and Li Si sat by the table and stared at the tokens and the patterns of various shapes. They listened to the calling of the dealer and enjoyed the smell of women and liquor in the room.
When he was in Chang'an, Li Si used to play around like a punk. Zhang San was also a tough figure in his hometown. He used to fight for his mother and injured many villagers. They spent only a short period of time in the Academy and was yet to be well educated by Li Manman's virtues and Jun Mo's force. Therefore they were not reluctant to do things like gambling.
”Why are we always losing?” After losing a few coins Li Si said with resentment, ”I don't believe it's our lack of skills or intelligence. ”
Zhang San tried to remind him. ”Don't you remember when we played with the Youngest Uncle years ago we were also losing? The Youngest Uncle said it was because we were low in moral qualities.”
”How could we be low in moral qualities? If we were, how could we became our master's disciples? How could he say you are the son of the prime minister and I'm the younger brother of the princess?”
Li Si was irritated. He took out some silver and gave half to Zhang San, then pounded the rest on the table. ”Let's bet on both sides. I'll go for the big and you the small! At least one of us should win!”
After a short while Zhang San and Li Si left the gambling house disappointedly. The came back to the store with their heads lowered. Chao Xiaoshu was washing the chess pieces in clear water. Upon seeing their expressions he figured they had lost all again in the gambling. He smiled and asked for some details.
”Betting on both sides is definitely losing. Anyone who does so is absolutely stupid,” Chao Xiaoshu said with a smile. But he did not look at Zhang San or Li Si. Instead, he looked over their shoulders toward the Butcher's shop across the street.
Zhang San and Li Si looked calm. They stopped scorning and almost forgot the money they just lost in the gambling house.
When going to the gambling house they had to pass by the Butcher's shop and heard their conversation inside the shop. Indeed, the people inside the shop must know …
But Zhang Nianzu had to be Zhang San, and Li Guangdi had to be Li Si. They were just two ordinary people, as ordinary as their names. Who would ever care about them?
”I have to write a letter.” Chao Xiaoshu headed for the backyard.
Inside the Butcher's shop, among the wet floor and the slight smell of blood, the Butcher and the Drunkard sat together silently. They had finished their conversation, but could not calm down immediately.
Suddenly the Butcher raised his eyebrows and pulled out his cutlass. The cutlass pierced through the air and was placed in front of his face.
His body reacted even faster and already moved to squat behind the chopping board. The shining blade reflected his solemn look.
He felt some extreme danger. The same as that he sensed during the Rite to Light years ago on Peach Mountain. It came back today.